Dec 12 (TN) Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) parliamentarian Ven.Omalpe Sobitha Thera sustained injuries and twelve protesters including monks were arrested at the "Temptation 2004" show at Horse Race Square, Colombo, Saturday, staged by Bollywood superstar Sharukh Khan when protesters turned violent, police sources in Colombo said. more..

Dec 12 (AP) A grenade exploded at a concert of Indian movie stars and entertainers in Sri Lanka's capital Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring 15, officials said. Military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said the grenade was thrown at the crowd as the three-hour show was nearing its end. more..

Dec 12 (AFP) A grenade exploded at an Indian superstar's concert in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, killing at least two people and injuring 18 others, police and doctors said. The grenade ripped through the most expensive stands closest to the stage where Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan and his troupe were performing, police said. more..

Dec 12 (Reuters) A nurse treats a victim at a hospital in Colombo, after a grenade explosion at a concert by Indian Star Shahrukh Khan. Two people were killed and 11 others wounded on Saturday when a hand grenade was lobbed more..

Dec 12 (Reuters) Two people have been killed and 11 others wounded when a hand grenade was lobbed into the VIP section of the audience at a concert led by Indian film star Sharukh Khan, police say. Someone threw the grenade as Khan was performing on stage on Saturday at the end of a three-hour show which had drawn protests more..

Dec 12 (TN) Trincomalee campus of the East University has inaugurated its first External Degree Programme on two disciplines, B.Sc (Management) and B.A (Communication). The inauguration of the programme and introduction of applicants was held Friday evening more..

Dec 12 (SLA) A wife who reached the VALAICHCHENAI Police station on 11 December 2004 has complained that five armed LTTE men took her husband forcibly to the general area of VAKARAI on 07 December 2004 around 10.30 p.m. more..

Dec 12 (SLA) Unidentified group has lobbed a hand grenade at the house of a civilian in the general area of ODDAMAVADI in BATTICALOA on 11 December 2004 around 8.25 p.m., states a complaint lodged at the VALAICHCHENAI Police. more..

Dec 12 (SLA) The information received by troops confirm that the LTTE have abducted three female students from the general area of JAFFNA on 09 December 2004. According to information those three teenaged girls have been students of the PERIYAKULAM Maha Vidyalaya in JAFFNA more..

Dec 12 (SLA) Three suspected persons trying to enter the COLOMBO harbour premises in a van have been taken into custody by Naval troops on duty at the INGURUKADE junction checkpoint on 11 December 2004 around 9.00 p.m. more..

Dec 12 (LBO) Central Bank says incomes of rich people grew faster over the last five years. The bank, which released preliminary findings of its consumer finance and socio-economic survey, says living conditions and real incomes have however, improved across the board. more..

Dec 12 (AT) Extensive investigations are being carried into yesterday's bomb blast in Colombo during the Bollywood musical event. The incident occurred around 11.30 p.m. when the show was coming to an end. A political conspiracy is suspected in the crime that killed two persons and injured 20 others - four of them critically. more..

Dec 12 (AT) UNP Assistant General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said today that his party would take up the issue of the two-year imprisonment imposed on the party's National Organizer S.B. Dissanayake with the International Court. more..

Dec 12 (AT) Sri Lanka has reached the climax of 57 years of politicization and abuse of power at the highest levels. This is the point of no return. Retired Supreme Court Judge K.M.M.B. Kulatunge made this observation today in an interview with the Asian Tribune. more..

Dec 12 (PIS) Norway's Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar, one of Oslo's well experienced career diplomats, tossed an important question to Tiger guerrilla political wing leader, S.P. Thamilselvan last week. more..

Dec 12 (TS) In the war-ravaged northeast of Sri Lanka, an aging Tamil father sits on the floor of a Hindu temple, waiting to meet an exuberant, seemingly tireless oracle. The oracle � a hefty, middle-aged man dressed in a red and gold sari � holds up a wand and rocks his head back and forth as if in a violent spell. more..

Dec 12 (ANN) Minister Rohitha Bogollagama�s wife Deepthi accused of stabbing cardiologist S. Narenthiran at the doctor�s Borella residence Friday afternoon has claimed that he tried to use criminal force on her, a charge vehemently denied by the well known heart specialist. more..

Dec 12 (HT) The sentencing of a Sri Lankan opposition leader and former Cabinet minister to two years' rigorous imprisonment for "contempt of court" last Tuesday, and the intense political heat it has generated, has resulted in a chorus of voices demanding the implementation of the "Manesar Declaration" in regard to contempt of court. more..

Dec 12 (PTI) India today condemned the bomb blast at Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan's concert in Colombo and said all Indians, including the wife of former cricketer Ravi Shastri, who suffered minor injuries, are safe. more..

Dec 12 (UNI) Rithu Shastri, wife of former Indian cricketer and famous cricket commentator, Ravi Shastri, was among those injured in a grenade explosion at a musical concert by Shah Rukh Khan here last night. The attack left two dead and 15 injured. more..

Dec 12 (AFP) India today condemned the bomb blast at Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan's concert in Colombo and said all Indians, including the wife of former cricketer Ravi Shastri who suffered minor injuries, are safe. "The Government of India condemns this terrorist incident and the perpetrators of this reprehensible act," more..

Dec 12 (IANS) Dignitaries, including Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao, had a narrow escape in the grenade attack on a concert here that killed two people and injured 19 as Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan made 20,000 star-struck fans rock by screaming "I love you, I love you." more..

Dec 12 (AFP) Indian Bollywood stars rushed home after their sell-out "Temptation 2004" concert ended in tragedy following a grenade attack that killed two people, officials said. Detectives Sunday sealed off Colombo's former Race Course, where Hindi super star Shahrukh Khan entertained more than 20,000 fans, more..

Dec 12 (PTI) Sri Lanka's influential Buddhist clergy today blamed the Government for the bomb explosion at Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan's concert here, accusing it of not taking adequate security measures for the show. "We hold the Government responsible for this attack. more..

Dec 12 (LBO) Who's complaining when you can build a house for just Rs. 150,000? A 580 sq. ft. house with two verandas, a bedroom, a hall and a kitchen costs only Rs. 150 000. Unbelievable? Read on. In the late eighties a government housing drive tried to provide shelter to everybody. more..

Dec 12 (AFP) A top Norwegian envoy is due in Sri Lanka Monday to try to salvage the island's tottering peace process amid rising tension between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, diplomats said. Envoy Erik Solheim is expected here for talks with Sri Lankan leaders as well as Tamil Tiger guerrillas more..

Dec 13 (TN) Mr.Thooyavan, LTTE Nilaveli division political head in Trincomalee district Sunday lodged a complaint with the SLMM that an abortive attempt has been made to destroy the LTTE's Nilaveli political office by setting fire to the asbestos roofed building and a cadjan hut Sunday early morning around 3.30 a.m. more..

Dec 13 (Reuters) A Sri Lankan truck driver held hostage by militants in Iraq for six weeks was reunited with his wife and three sons on Sunday, saying he had been beaten up at first but was then treated "very well." Dinesh Rajaratnam, 37, was abducted along with Bangladeshi driver Abul Kashem on Oct. 28. more..

Dec 13 (PL) Pakistan is all set to sign free trade agreements with Iran and Sri Lanka, while talks for Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with China would be initiated during Prime Minister's visit to that country. This was stated by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar at a press conference at Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) here. more..

Dec 13 (HT) The Sri Lankan government has decided not to make available its Air Force helicopters to the LTTE leaders and the Norwegian peace brokers to travel between government controlled and LTTE controlled areas, according to The Sunday Times. more..

Dec 13 (Rupavahini) President Chandrika Kumratunge reiterates that an atmosphere conducive for the people to live freely has been built during her ten year tenure of high office. She pointed out that she contributed immensely to protect democratic and human rights in the country. more..

Dec 13 (BBC) Police in Valachchanai say they received information of two people being shot dead at Ootruchchnai in Batticaloa district. Kanapathipillai Udayakumar, 34, and Muttu Krishnapillai, 39, were shot dead in the LTTE controlled area on Friday night at their homes, police said. more..

Dec 13 (AT) S.B. Dissanayake will continue as UNP's National Orgnanizer, Ranil Wickremesighe said today He said that reorganizing committee had the right to meet Mr. Dissanayae whenever they can. Mr. Wickremasinghe has stressed that all party members should dedicate themselves to securing the release of their colleague. more..

Dec 13 (AT) UNP Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardena said Sunday that the government should accept full responsibility for the bomb blast that occurred during the Bollywood musical event in Colombo last night. He alleged that Colombo had once again become a fear-ridden metropolis - a city facing bomb threats - under the UPFA regime. more..

Dec 13 (AT) Sri Lanka Government in a press release dated Sunday 12 December, has condemned the bomb blast at the Bolywood concert performed by leading Hindi film stars led by matinee idol superstar Shahrukh Khan Saruk Kahan, held on Saturday in Colombo. more..

Dec 13 (PTI) Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan today said he felt at the "lowest and worst as an entertainer" after the blast during his concert in Colombo on Saturday night that killed two and injured 15. The Sri Lankan government has begun a probe into the incident. more..

Dec 13 (Hindu) Opposition parties in Sri Lanka today blamed yesrterday's grenade attack on a concert featuring the Indian film star, Shah Rukh Khan, on "security lapses." They demanded that the Government conduct a full-scale inquiry into the attack, which killed two persons and injured 19. more..

Dec 13 (SAMN) Police Chief Chandra Fernando believes the attacker could not have carried out the grenade attack without being seen. "I am sure at least a few persons in the audience saw the attacker," Fernando said, more..

Dec 13 (SAMN) A high level committee entrusted with absorbing graduate tax officers and senior tax officers or those who hold equal academic and professional qualifications into the Assessors grade in the Inland Revenue Department has been stalled, trade union officials charge. more..

Dec 13 (SAMN) It has been revealed that due to destruction of forests several mini hydro-electric projects in the country are threatened with abandonment. These mini Hydro-Electric projects are set up in rural areas where the supply of electricity from the main grid was not possible. more..

Dec 13 (TN) Several villages in the three districts of the eastern province, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai are inundated with floodwater following incessant rain since Saturday. Several hundreds of families in the three districts residing in low-lying areas have been evacuated and given shelter in schools and other public buildings, more..

Dec 13 (TN) �Sri Lanka military intelligence has from time to time unleashed brutal state terror in the East, using individuals and paramilitary groups such as PLOTE Mohan and Razeek group. There is no Karuna group operating in the East now. The recent violence in the East in the name of �Karuna group� is a continuation of this state terror by the SLA,� more..

Dec 13 (SLA) Armed LTTE men in civil clothes, who entered a village in the general area of SERUNUWARA, have abducted four youngsters, for conscription after storming their houses during early morning on 12 December 2004. more..

Dec 13 (SLA) One person has sustained injuries when an unidentified person threw a hand grenade at a bakery in the general area of BATTICALOA on 12 December 2004 around 7.00 p.m. more..

Dec 13 (SLA) LTTE members have displayed posters threatening the general public in the general area of THUNNALAI in WADAMARACHCHI on 12 December 2004. LTTE had threatened those who provide information about LTTE to the Security Forces with death in those posters.

Dec 13 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's central bank is expected to hold interest rates steady at this week's policy meeting before raising them in January, a Reuters survey found, after the market was caught off guard by a rate rise last month. more..

Dec 13 (wsws) The Sri Lankan government has rejected an appeal by LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran for the resumption of peace talks, compounding fears that the present, increasingly shaky ceasefire will break down completely. Prabhakaran made the call for negotiations in his annual Heroes� Day speech on November 27. more..

Dec 13 (samn) The LTTE has begun a door to door campaign to "educate" Tamil speaking people in the north-east to be prepared for the worst in case the Tigers were pushed into a war situation, a senior political wing leader of the LTTE said in an interview in Vavuniya last week. more..

Dec 13 (Dawn) The Central Bureau of Investigation, India's federal police, on Friday claimed that religious leader Chandraswami may be involved in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The investigating agency has told a local court here that there is evidence pointing towards the Chandraswami's involvement. more..

Dec 13 (Reuters) Sri Lanka apologised on Monday to a troupe of Bollywood stars for a deadly weekend grenade attack that marred a concert they staged in Colombo, blaming it on elements bent on hurting close ties with neighbouring India. more..